Machine threads cut directly into your part — inch or metric, aluminum, steel, or stainless. No insert, no second component, no assembly step. Where the sheet is too thin to hold a thread, we say so and press in hardware instead.
A tapped hole in sheet metal is only as strong as the number of threads it holds — and in a flat sheet, the engagement length is the material thickness. There is nowhere else for threads to live.
That makes the math simple: full threads = thickness ÷ pitch. A #6-32 has 32 threads per inch, so each thread takes 0.031″. In 16 gauge aluminum at 0.063″ you get two threads. In 12 gauge at 0.100″ you get three.
Two full threads is the floor — below it the thread strips under normal assembly torque. Three or more is a joint you can tighten to spec and trust in service.
Both series we run, with the thinnest sheet each size can hold. The minimum gauge is whichever gate bites first — two full threads of pitch, or half the screw diameter in material. Figures are computed from the thread standard, not rounded by hand.
Minimum gauge assumes a through-tapped hole in flat sheet. Blind and machined features are gated on hole depth instead — see the CNC design guide. For the drill behind any of these threads — plus clearance holes and thread percentages — use the tap drill size chart.
Thin sheet is the honest limit of a tapped hole. A self-clinching nut sidesteps it entirely: the barrel stands proud of the sheet, so thread engagement comes from the fastener rather than from the material. In 16 gauge a PEM nut gives you the full thread length a screw expects — a tapped hole gives you two turns.
Self-clinching hardware needs 0.040″ of sheet at minimum, and about 0.093″ for the full range of thread sizes we install. Below 0.040″ neither option holds — that part needs a nutplate, a rivet nut, or a redesign.
Most tapping problems are caught at quoting, not on the floor. These are the ones worth designing out before you upload.
Every alloy, finish, and gauge we tap. Each thickness shows the largest thread it will hold, how many full threads that size actually engages, and the full range available at that gauge — click any chip for the spec sheet.
Upload your DXF and call out your tapped holes. Instant quoting — no setup fees, no minimums.